Gate-latch.



I. H. TAUSCH.

GATE LATCH. APPLICATION FILED MAY 29, I915- 1,1682%. Patented Jan. 11, 1916.

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\ III I II III if W WW w Zzf/ze 2W5 91 A I 'I COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c0.. WASHINGTON D c UIWTED TATE Cl JOSEPH H. TAUSCE, OF FJ'INTHRO? HARBOR, ILLiNQIS, ASSIGIIOE 0F ONE-EAL]? TO GEORGE GORTON, GE RACINE, WISCONSIN.

GATE-LATCH.

Application filed May 29, 1915.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that l, Josnrri H. TAUsoi-r, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, residing at Winthrop Harbor, in the county of Lake and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gate-Latches, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in latches for gates of the horizontally swinging type, and is particularly intended for use in connection with such type of gates constructed of metal and adapted for farm use, and it consists in certain peculiarities of the construction, novel arrangement and operation of the various parts thereof, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth andspecifically claimed. 7

The principal object of the invention, is, to provide a gate latch which shall be simple and inexpensive in construction, strong durable and efficient in operation, and so made that it can be readily and securely mounted on the upright end bar of the gate at the swinging end thereof, where it will be maintained in such a manner as to automatically engage the free end of the gate with a suitable keeper, mounted on the fence post at or near said end of the gate, when the latter is swung in either direction, and automatically locking the same in its closed position.

Another object is to provide a latch which shall be of such construction, that its parts, when assembled, will form a unit, that is, all the parts thereof will be so united together that the latch can be easily applied to the upright end bar of the gate as a whole.

Still another object of the invention, is, to provide means whereby the rotatable arms of the latch may be turned on their hearing from their normal positions so as to extend in the opposite direction and there be locked, in which locked position, they will be substantially in parallelism with the handle of the latch, thus fixing the parts in a more compact form for shipment.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be disclosed in the sub-joined description and explanation.

In the accompanying drawing, which serves to illustrate an embodiment of the in vention Figure 1, is a plan view partly in section of the front end bar of the gate, showing the latch mounted thereon, and

Patented Jan. 11, fete.

Serial No. 31,135.

illustrating by dotted lines one of the positions to which it can be turned on the gate bar, so that the arms thereof will automatically and positively engage the holding member therefor on the fence post at the front end of the gate; Fig. 2, is a sectional view taken on line 2, 2, of Fig. 1 looking in the direction indicated by arrows. Fig. 3, is a plan sectional view taken on line 3, 3, of Fig. 2, and Fig. f, is a plan view similar to that shown in Fig. 1 with the arms of the latch turned and locked in the opposite direction.

Like numerals of reference, refer to corresponding parts throughout the different views of the drawings.

In order that a clear understanding of the invention may be had, I have illustrated it as being mounted on a portion of the upright end-bar'lO of a gate, which bar, it will be understood will be located at the front or swinging end thereof. The latch carrying bracket, which is designated as a whole by the numeral 11., is mounted on said bar and said bracket consists of two members 12, counterparts of one another, each having at opposite ends apertured lugs 13 for the reception of bolts 14, used for securing the members 12 together around the gate bar 10, as will be readily understood by reference to Fig. 1 of the drawings, from which view it will be understood that the inner faces of the members 12 of the bracket 11 are provided with recesses 15 of a shape that when said members are united they will correspond with the shape of the bar 10, which, in the present instance is lJ-shaped. However, the recesses 15 of the members 12 may be of other shapes than that shown, and said members may be secured to the bar 10 if the same is of other shape than U-shape, by any suitable means. Each of the members 12 of the bracket 11, is provided on its outer surface between its upper and lower ends with a curved groove, which, when said pieces are joined together, form a bearing 16 (see Fig. 3) for the curved portions of the latch-arms 17, which latch-arms are secured togetherby means of bolts 18 extended through suitable openings in their rear ends and front portions. The front parts of the latch-arms 17 are diverged or flared, as is clearly shown in Fig. 1, so as to more readily engage the keeper (not shown) therefor on the frontgate post. As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the rear portions of the members 12 are provided with upwardly eX- tended housings 19, through an opening in the upper parts of w iich is extended a locking handle 20, which has secured on its lower end a block or bolt 21, which operates partially in a vertical recess 22 in the rear portion of the circular or bearing part 16 of the bracket 11, and partially in vertical recesses 23, formed in the rear portion of the arms 17, at their adjacent or meeting edges. Each of the members 17 has a segmental recess 24. formed in its upper surface adjacent to its inner edge, at the rear portion thereof, and each of said members has in its front portion a recess 25 of sufiicient size, when the members 17 are united, as shown in Fig. 3, to receive a portion of the bolt or block 21, which is normally pressed downwardly andheld in engagement with the recess 22 of the rounded or bearing portion 16 of the members 12 of the bracket, and with the recesses 23, of the latch-arms, by means of a spring 26, which surrounds the vertical portion of the handle 20, and rests at one of its ends against the upper portion of the housing 19, and at its lower end against the block 21, which block or bolt normally holds the latching-arms 17 in their locked or normal positions, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, but which may be released therefrom by raising the handle 20, in which operation the block 21 will be disengaged from therecesses therefor and permit the latcharms 17 to turn to the positions indicated by dottedlines in Fig. 1 of the drawings. After the handle 20 and block 21 have been raised to permit of the aforesaid movement, and said handle is released, the spring '26 will depress the bolt or block 21, into one of the recesses 24 of the latcharms, thus allowing the said arms to turn for a restricted movement, or until the block 21 engages one of the ends of said segmental recesses, in which position the latch-arms will be frictionally held until one of them strikes the keeper on closing the gate, when it is'apparent that said arms will. be restored to their normal positions, and the bolt 21 will be shot or forced into the recesses therefor by its actuating spring. The recesses 25 are provided in the front parts of the arms 17, so that in shipping the latch said arms may be turned half way around on the bearing 16, when the bolt 21 will engage the recesses 25 and hold the arms 17 in substantial parallelism with the handle 20 of the bracket. It will be understood that when the latch is mounted on the front upright end bar of the gate at any suitable point thereon, and the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing, the arms 17 will embrace the keeper (not shown) on-the fence post and will lock the gate against swinging movement. When it is desired to open the gate in either direction, the handle 20 may be raised which will withdraw the bolt 21 from the recess 22 and the recesses 23 in the arm 17 shown in Fig. 1 half way around on their bearing until they occupy the positions shown in Fig. 4: when it is apparent that by releasing the handle 20 the spring which actuatesthe same will cause the bolt 21 to enter the recesses 25 in the arms 17 and thus hold them in substantial parallelism with the handle 20 as will be readily understood by reference to Fig. 4 of the drawings 1 Having thus fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is 1. A latch for a gate consisting of a bracket adapted to be mounted around one of the upright bars of the gate and having an annular bearing provided with a vertical recess in the rear portion of its periphery, a pair of spaced arms rotatably mounted on said bearing and having a vertical recess adapted to register with the recess of said bearing, and a handled and spring actuated bolt carried by the bracket to engage said recesses.

v2. A latch for a gate consisting ofa bracket adapted to be mounted on and around one of the upright bars of the gate f and having an annular bearing provided with a recess in the rear portion of its periphery, a pair of spaced arms rotatably mounted on said bearing, said arms having a recess adapted to register with the recessof said bearing and also provided on each side of its said recess with a segmental recess, and a spring actuated bolt carried by the bracket to engage said recesses. V

3. A latch for a gate, consisting of'a bracket adapted to be mounted on and around one of the upright bars-of the gate and having an annular; bearing provided with a recess in its periphery, a pair of spaced apart arms rotatably mounted on said i and having an annular bearing provided with a vertical recess in the rear portion of its periphery, said bracket having a vertically extended housing at its rear portion provided With an opening in its upper portion, a pair of arms spaced apart at one of their ends and rotatably mounted on said bearing said arms having a recess in their rear portions and another recess in their front portions to register alternately W1th the recess of sald bearing, sald arms also &

having a segmental recess on each side of the 1 3 recess in the rear portion thereof, and a spring actuated bolt located in said housing to engage said recess extended at its upper er through the opening of said housing.

JOSEPH H. TAU SCH. Witnesses:

CHRISTIAN JOHNSON, C. EILANDSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

